NASA will discuss new results about ocean worlds in our solar system from the agency’s Cassini spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope during a news briefing 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 13. The event, to be held at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, will include remote participation from experts across the country.

Molecular hydrogen, as found on Enceladus, is one of the essential parts of life on Earth

There might be alien life in our own solar system, Nasa has announced.

All of the necessary things to support life have been found on one of the moons that orbits Saturn.

Enceladus has chemicals that when found on Earth tend to indicate life, suggesting that there might be living things under its icy shell.

Scientists have long thought of Enceladus as one of the prime candidates for life within our solar system, in large part because of its subsurface ocean that covers its entire body. But the new research gives the best look yet at that moon, showing that it has a chemical energy source capable of supporting life.ET Phone Home

The story of oceans is the story of life. Oceans define our home planet, covering the majority of Earth’s surface and driving the water cycle that dominates our land and atmosphere. But more profound still, the story of our oceans envelops our home in a far larger context that reaches deep into the universe and places us in a rich family of ocean worlds that span our solar system and beyond.

Two veteran NASA missions are providing new details about icy, ocean-bearing moons of Jupiter and Saturn, further heightening the scientific interest of these and other "ocean worlds" in our solar system and beyond. The findings are presented in papers published Thursday by researchers with NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn and Hubble Space Telescope.

In the papers, Cassini scientists announce that a form of chemical energy that life can feed on appears to exist on Saturn's moon Enceladus, and Hubble researchers report additional evidence of plumes erupting from Jupiter's moon Europa.

Prospects for life look good on ocean worlds. Only probes can get there for now.ET Phone Home

There might be alien life in our own solar system, Nasa has announced.

Nobody is realising that "life" as NASA terms it is likely to be microbes of some description. Life will not be two legged beings such as us, and any microbes that maybe there won't be talking intelligently to us.

But if any lifeform even microbial can survive somewhere else than earth, than that does bode well for life like ours somewhere else in the galaxy.

Yes, This has long been speculated. Do we know for sure that these Oceans are water and not Methane. Also on Europa the ice is said to be 2 miles thick. Could life survive without oxygen dissolved within the water ? Could life exist in Liquid methane. Since tidal forces are said to heat up Europa I suspect that the ocean may well be water.

It amazes me what orbiting vehicles can see and analyze, and we can conjecture a lot about the data coming in, but I wish work would get underway for a robotic probe to physically examine the situation down there. The mind is a weird and mysterious place

If the ocean is methane I would define life as possibly limited to be microbial-like if that is even possible.

If the Ocean is water then one might hope for fish and other creatures that we find deep in our own ocean.
Since life there, if started, would evolve differently than that here on Earth; we might have some big surprises; or we may find the ocean to be entirely sterile.

I would like to know; but, I think it would be easier to answer these same questions by digging in the Martian soil. Evidence of life elsewhere of any kind would be a profound achievement in our search for knowledge and understanding.

If the ocean is methane I would define life as possibly limited to be microbial-like if that is even possible.

I think your definition is right, if there was bipedal or tripedal life of any kind in our Solar system capable of perambulation, I think that we would know about it somehow by now. So microbial stuff is all that I would ever expect to find. They say than life evolved from the original primeval "soup" then went from the sea onto land as mammals. Yes well I'll reserve judgement upon that.

All the time we seem to be looking for planets in the habitable zone of stars that could support water and life like ours. We have no reason to suppose that life like ours exists anywhere else. We are carbon based lifeforms as Vger termed us in Startrek, therefore we breathe in oxygen and exhale Carbon dioxide. Silicon based lifeforms would exhale Silicon Dioxide, which is quartz, so they wouldn't have a lung system like ours.

I still think we are likely the only life like ours in our Galaxy, but other galaxies are too far away to know about. And in any case giant slugs would be unlikely to build starships. There could be a race of Dalek type things somewhere maybe. But you know what's going to happen, when they do find microbes on another planet the popular press will scream "Life found on Mars!!" and half the world will expect little green men.

Chris, my gut feeling is that you are overly pessimistic regarding the possibility of there being life within our galaxy. It appears that water is going to be a fairly common commodity throughout the galaxy. If it is proven that any form of life exists or has existed on one of the moons in our solar system then I'd say the odds increase greatly that life is widespread and common throughout our galaxy. But on the matter of there being intelligent life within communication range that is where I am afraid we won't find any. We are most likely fated to spend a long time within the confines of our star system with a remote chance of migrating to a habitable planet or moon circling a nearby star. It will also likely be a one way trip with no further contact after the pioneers are out of radio range.Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Chris, my gut feeling is that you are overly pessimistic regarding the possibility of there being life within our galaxy.

I would prefer to say pragmatic :-)

It appears that water is going to be a fairly common commodity throughout the galaxy.

Not on the evidence that I have seen.

But on the matter of there being intelligent life within communication range that is where I am afraid we won't find any.

Entirely agree.

We are most likely fated to spend a long time within the confines of our star system with a remote chance of migrating to a habitable planet or moon circling a nearby star. It will also likely be a one way trip with no further contact after the pioneers are out of radio range.

And even that won't happen until we break the FTL barrier, and that won't be any time soon.

You know, it perhaps becomes both a different subject and also different author, but the idea of possible life originating close to vents on the ocean floor is one of the better ones.

Next the fact that it may not be possible to prove whether both bacteria and viruses initially evolved in the oceans, or rather on the surface of dry land.

The fertile soil makes it possible to both harvest and grow seed for that of bread for your food, but I also mentioned the "seed of life" in another context.

If viruses are still supposed to be about DNA, at least four molecules of protein makes that of life possible, abbreviated CTAG for their individual names.

Here only about that of DNA for life itself and no other purpose, which becomes a subject on its own.

But if DNA still is supposed to be molecules, it also should be about atoms as well and next back at Physics for such a thing.

Proteins make up life as we know it and nothing else except for a couple of alternative solutions.

As humans, we are supposed to be having at least intelligence, but also that the reptile could still be part of us as well, because of both ancestry and evolution.

The easy part is therefore that of evolution, while the more difficult part becomes that of possible conscience, for which we probably are having both.

If that of reptiles should perhaps tell about any water in the Solar System, we also should know about the properties of water.

Apparently we do not find such thing as direct aggression among that of bacteria and viruses and next that Dinosaurs were more plant-eaters or scavengers rather than reptiles,
or possibly predators (unsure about the word).